


Home Improvement

by Lillyjk



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Accountant Phil, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Slow Build, architect Tony, contractor Steve, home depot employee Clint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-19 13:45:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2390531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillyjk/pseuds/Lillyjk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a tumblr prompt from desert_neon who wanted:</p><p>a C/C AU where Phil is the “boring accountant” who is fixing up his apartment and Clint is the hot home improvement store guy? Except Phil really only needed to go in once, he’s actually hired a pro to do the whole thing, everything else is an excuse to see Clint. Which is killing his contractor, because it shouldn’t take this many trips to pick out paint and sinks and stuff, wth, guy?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

***

  
He should never have taken advice from Tony. His brownstone was a complete wreck and now Phil had to spend his Saturday picking out paint colors and cabinets and, Jesus, this shit is not his forte. He can put together a killer suit and tie ensemble, but anything large scale like the entire first floor of his house is out of his comfort range.

"It’ll be easy," Tony had said. "I’ll draw up the plans. We can move a few walls and change out some fixtures and it’ll be like a better version of what you have now." Tony had seemed so excited at the prospect of Phil finally letting him renovate that Phil had just sort of let things get out of hand.

Tony had been complaining about how boring commercial architecture had become and he’d been so damn sad since things ended with Pepper that Phil had caved. He had figured it was the right thing to do, a little side project for an old college buddy in need of a pick-me-up.

Only Tony had kept changing and expanding the plans until now Phil was in the middle of a full scale remodel of the entire first floor of his brownstone. The contractor, Steve (who Phil was beginning to think Tony only recommended because he looked good in a tshirt) had given Phil a gentle reminder that they couldn’t move forward until Phil made some decisions on materials and finishes.

So now Phil was trudging halfway across Manhattan to the Home Depot store on the first Saturday he’d had off since tax season started. Alone. Tony had suddenly been too busy to help, Steve had suggested a palette of red, white and blue and Phil’s assistant, Natasha, had advised him to cover everything with black leather. In her exact words, “You can hide any kind of stain on black leather.” Yeah, Phil really didn’t want to spend too much time considering why Natasha knew that.

Phil had tried googling ideas and found himself wasting hours on something called Pinterest. He still had no clear concept of anything except what he didn’t want. Basically, anything Steve or Natasha would like. But, he had some great ideas pinned about how to make little reindeer cookies out of nutter butter cookies when the holidays rolled around.

He drifted through the crowded aisles pushing a conspicuously empty bright orange buggy for all of about ten minutes before he decided the easiest thing was to abandon his house and live on the street. He could feel his right eye start to twitch as he stared in paralyzing fear at what looked to be seven million shades of white trim paint.

"Hey buddy, you need some help?"

"Without a doubt," Phil replied without bothering to turn around. "I am in over my head."

"Well, let’s see what we can do. Can’t have our customers having a paint color break down in the middle of aisle 5."

Phil did turn around then, and wow, he was starting to see the appeal of the Home Depot.  
The employee, Clint according to his name tag, was maybe ten years younger than Phil with messy, sandy-blond hair and fucking amazing eyes.

He must have been staring for a minute too long, because Clint gave him a little smile and said. “You need help picking colors?”

Phil felt his face flush, “I actually need help picking everything. My entire downstairs is one big construction zone.”

"Well, aren’t you lucky I can help you with that. I don’t suggest starting with paint colors if you haven’t picked out things like cabinets and sinks yet." He tilted his head to one side. "Let’s go back to the design consult area and we’ll see if we can get you fixed up."

"Yes," Phil nodded. "A thousand times yes." He said as he gratefully abandoned his empty cart to follow Clint back to the design area. And, yeah, he may have stumbled over his own feet a little when he noticed just how Clint’s well-worn jeans clung to what was a truly magnificent ass.

Maybe he’d let Tony and Steve take a crack at the second floor of his house too.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Once Phil got over his initial _wow this guy has a killer smile and amazing ass_ focus problem, he discovered that Clint really knew his stuff. Clint had urged Phil to focus on one room at a time which made it much more manageable and less overwhelming. Steve had provided Phil a list of measurements and a sketch with the general proposed layout for the kitchen and Clint had taken it and run. He'd ended up spending most of the afternoon helping Phil pick out cabinets and appliances and materials for his back splash as well all the other bits and pieces Phil hadn't even thought of.

 

A couple of hours later, Phil was exhausted but satisfied as he collapsed down in one of the chairs in the home design section and waited for Clint to finalize his bill. “You're really good at this.”

 

Clint grinned, “It's kind of my passion. I started off here a couple of years ago when I left the Marines, thinking it would just be a temporary thing while I got my bearings, but I really like it. It's kind of like a big jigsaw puzzle, you start with nothing and pick out pieces until you find what fits.” He shrugged, “The store manager says I've got a knack for it, so they moved me into home design and now I spend my work day trolling the aisles for distressed customers who need a little help. I get a commission on whatever I help sell and the customers get some direction, it's a win-win.”

 

“Well, you've certainly been a lifesaver for me. I was ready to give up. My job is pretty stressful on a good day, and this was about to push me over the edge.” Phil rolled his shoulders, wincing at the tight muscles. “You made this a much more pleasant experience. Now if I could just go home and curl up on my couch with a nice cup of coffee...oh wait, my house is a disaster zone.” He slumped back in his seat.

 

Clint cleared his throat. “Well, this may be out of line but there's a great coffee place around the corner. They have these big overstuffed chairs and sofas, and I was actually gonna stop by there when we finished up here. You could, come with?” He glanced at Phil and then looked down at his hands.

 

Phil blinked at him. “That, uh, that sounds great, actually. But, don't you have to wait for your shift to end?”

 

“Yeah, well, my shift ended about an hour ago but I didn't want to hand you off to anybody else.” Clint looked embarrassed and it was so freaking adorable that Phil had to physically stop himself from swooning like a school girl. Unless he was totally misinterpreting things, Clint was interested, and not just in a high commission. “If you can give me five minutes, I'll grab my stuff from the back and we'll head out.”

 

Things were looking up, way up.

 

 

 


End file.
